WWE NXT: Who will win championship gold in 2019?

Credit: WWE.com

NXT North American Championship

With the title only having existed since April of this year, it’s not surprising that there are only two men who have held the title. Adam Cole became the inaugural champion at NXT TakeOver: New Orleans in a grueling six-man ladder match. Four months later, Cole had to defend his title against Ricochet at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn 4. They put on a spectacular match and Adam Cole was close to retaining his title on more than one occasion, but it was “The One and Only” Ricochet who emerged as NXT North American Champion. He has held onto that title throughout 2018, but which NXT superstars are poised to take the title from him in 2019?

Bobby Fish

It may seem unlikely that The Undisputed Era manages to hold almost all the gold in NXT, but it was just as unlikely that Adam Cole would win the NXT North American Championship and the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic in the same night. If The Undisputed Era says they’re going to do something, it usually comes true.

After spending most of 2018 on the shelf with a lingering knee injury, Bobby Fish is cleared for competition and ready to represent Undisputed Era. While he can still participate as a tag team competitor via the Freebird rule, the tag team division is pretty much on lock by O’Reilly and Strong. This leaves Fish open to pursue what would be his first big win as a singles competitor.

Keith Lee

If you’re not ready to “Bask in His Glory,” you best get ready. Keith Lee has just begun to make his mark this year, and his potential for 2019 is simply limitless. Lee picked up some strong early wins against Marcel Barthel, Luke Menzies, and Kona Reeves, but lost some momentum with a defeat to Lars Sullivan last month.

While he might not be a contender for the NXT North American Championship just yet, I’d wager Lee will hold the title before 2019 comes to a close. Lee is terrifyingly agile for his size, but also brings some of the most devastating power offense in NXT. If he can hit the champion with a Supernova slam, it’ll be time to bask in the glory of a new NXT North American Champion.

Johnny Gargano

While not officially set for NXT TakeOver: Phoenix, current NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa suggested just this week that Gargano be the one to challenge Ricochet at the first TakeOver of 2019. We’ve seen Gargano go through an emotionally jarring transformation throughout 2018, but it’s also made him a more dangerous competitor inside the ring.

We got to witness Gargano push himself to unimaginable lengths against teammate turned rival turned who knows what, but it also brought him to viciously attack and injure Aleister Black just to get to Ciampa. If Gargano can focus that rage and determination on the NXT North American Championship, there’s no doubt he can capture it in 2019.